Congratulations, you have a Carbon Reduction Plan. Maybe you’ve had one for a few years.
If you’ve been taking action on your emissions, you’ll be seeing them come down, at least for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, every year.
But what if, like many, progress has stagnated, or emissions are going the wrong way?
The problem with many Carbon Reduction Plans that we see is that they fail to go beyond generic reduction recommendations. That’s the major shortcoming of AI or platform generated plans, or those written by the inexperienced.
Measuring your emissions is the first step on the carbon reduction journey, after all, if you don’t measure you can’t manage.
What you’re looking for in a carbon reduction plan are milestone targets, maybe set at five yearly intervals, and specific and measurable short term, medium term and long term actions.
Let’s look at some examples:
Road fuel. Emissions from the use of petrol and diesel for many businesses will be the greatest area of emission. If your business operates a fleet, you’re looking for a vehicle-by-vehicle breakdown according to individual emissions, overall mileage, age, ownership, lease expiry and EV equivalent availability and suitability. That analysis will generate an annual trajectory for road fuel emission reduction so that that the business will know exactly which vehicles to replace, with what, every year.
Heating Fuel. Again, this is often a significant source of emission. A generic recommendation might be ‘to replace a fossil fueled heating system with a low carbon alternative’. A more insightful recommendation in this respect will take into account not only your current fuel, but how it is used and how heat is transferred around the building or process. Any low carbon alternative recommendation will take into consideration heat losses within a building and physical infrastructure requirements.
Solar Power. Solar PV has never been more accessible and viable, and is often the most obvious first or second step in addressing emissions arising from electricity use. If your Carbon Reduction Plan recommends Solar PV, does it also provide you with an indication of annual yield and likely resulting emissions reductions, and a simple pay-back analysis? If your CRP has been AI or platform generated, then almost certainly not, so how can be business owner implement this recommendation?
Conclusion
Having a Carbon Reduction Plan is the first step on a business’s sustainability journey. Actually making change to achieve reductions such that the right things are done on the right order, and quantified, will most likely require the input of an experienced individual. That person will have insight and experience in low carbon technologies, across the board, and the credibility to give confidence to the business owner and manager.